LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
unless planning permission for the development is obtained, or demanding a reinstatement of the land. It is an offence in law if the requirements of the notices are not complied with.
Most of the UDs in the rural New Territories were related to site formation; earth- filling; the open storage of vehicles, containers, trailer/tractors and construction materials; and vehicle repair workshops. In 1997, 251 complaints and 383 referrals of suspected UDs from other government departments were received and 166 suspected UDs were detected through patrolling. The Director of Planning issued 321 warning letters for 144 cases, 1 664 enforcement notices for 285 cases, 72 reinstatement notices for five cases and 1 405 compliance notices for 218 cases. As for the prosecution, 41 defendants in 25 cases were convicted and the average of fine was $37,730 with a range of $5,000 to $300,000. Upon taking enforcement action, 173 UDs were discontinued and 112 UDs were regularised through section 16 planning application, which involved 43 ha and 60 ha of land respectively.
Special teams have also been set up to work in collaboration with the Black Spots Task Force of Lands Department on the common objective of cleaning up the environmental black spots in the rural New Territories. The special teams are to expedite enforcement and prosecution actions against UDs in the Pat Heung Pilot Action Area, the North District East Action Area and the Tuen Mun Container Action Area.
Urban Renewal
To create a better urban environment through comprehensive redevelopment, urban renewal frameworks have been prepared for various urban districts in the old urban
areas.
The Land Development Corporation (LDC) was established in 1988 to undertake, encourage, promote and facilitate urban renewal. Since its inception, 11 urban renewal projects have been completed and 16 projects are under way.
During the year, the then Governor in Council approved one more LDC development scheme plan for comprehensive redevelopment in the older parts of Tsim Sha Tsui. Seven approved scheme plans are in different stages of implementation by the LDC in Hong Kong and Kowloon. Office and/or residential buildings, community facilities and public open spaces will be provided within these schemes. The LDC has also undertaken some smaller commercial and residential redevelopment projects to enhance the environmental conditions in the old urban areas. For the LDC to carry out pilot schemes to test the linked-site approach, two comprehensive redevelopment projects have been identified at Kennedy Town New Praya and Tsuen Wan Town Centre to be linked to development projects at Ka Wai Man Road and Yeung Uk Road, respectively. A site at West Kowloon Reclamation will be granted to the Hong Kong Housing Society for rehousing residents affected by LDC projects.
Following the publication of the Policy Statement on 'Urban Renewal in Hong Kong' in June 1996, an urban renewal division has been set up in the Planning Department to render assistance to the Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau (PÉLB) for the implementation of various proposals in the Policy Statement. The division is undertaking a planning study on urban renewal strategy whereas PELB is actively studying the setting up of a statutory Urban Renewal Authority, the creation.
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